Cutter for use in forming dowels, plugs, and tenons

ABSTRACT

A cutter for use in fabricating dowels, plugs, or tenons has a hex-shaped shank and a body portion. The body portion includes a spur which is the first part of the cutter to contact the wood and which makes an initial depression into the wood. A cutting tooth has a cutting edge for cutting a trough into the wood and is the widest part of the cutter. The exterior surfaces of the cutter above the cutting tooth are formed at smaller radial distances and consequently have less, if not no, contact with the piece of wood being cut. The cutting tooth may be tapered along its height whereby the bottom of the tooth would be the thickest part of the tooth and would have the most contact with the wood. Also, the portion of the cutter trailing the spur may be formed with teeth and flutes thereby reducing the amount of contact between the cutter and the wood. By reducing the amount of contact between the wood and the cutter, the cutter has a reduced amount of friction with the wood. Since a significant concern with conventional cutters is the build-up of heat, by reducing friction the cutters can also reduce the amount of heat generated and reduce any chance that the wood or the cutter becomes burned or otherwise damaged by the heat. Furthermore, the cutters are more efficient to operate since they require less torque and consume less electricity.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a cutter for use in making wooden dowels,plugs, or tenons and, more particularly, to a cutter which moreaccurately makes dowels, plugs, or tenons while requiring less power andwhile generating a smaller amount of heat during its operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conventional cutter 10 for making wooden dowels, plugs, or tenons isshown in FIGS. 1A and 1B and comprises a shank 12 to be received withina drill press chuck and a body portion 14. The body portion 14 includesa cutting tooth 15 having a leading arris 16 which contacts and cuts thewood as the cutter 10 is rotated and lowered into the wood by the drillpress. The cutting tooth 15 is also defined by an interior surface 25and by an exterior surface 11. The body portion 14 of the cutter 10further includes a beveled surface 19 on an exterior of the cutter 10and a ridge 20 formed at a juncture of the beveled surface 19 with theinterior surface 25 of the cutter 10. A flute 18 is defined between thecutting tooth 15 and the beveled surface 19 of the cutter 10.

In operation, the cutter 10 is secured within the chuck of a drill pressand is rotated at a relatively high speed (the appropriate speed dependson the diameter of cutter 10). As the cutter 10 is being lowered by thedrill press, the ridge 20 forms a circular depression in a piece of woodand is the first part of the cutter 10 that contacts the wood. After thedepression is formed by the ridge 20 and the cutter 10 is lowered anadditional distance, the leading arris 16 of the cutting tooth 15 nextcontacts the wood and cuts a circular trough within the wood. As thecutter 10 continues to be lowered by the drill press, the ridge 20 andthe cutting tooth 15 form a deeper trough in the wood, and a cylindricalwood member is received within a bore 29 of the cutter 10. The initialdepression formed by the ridge 20 receives the interior surface 25 ofthe cutting tooth 15 thereby guiding and stabilizing the cutter 10 as itis lowered into the wood. The circular trough cut by the cutter 10 hasan outer diameter defined by the exterior surface 11 of cutting tooth 15and an inner diameter defined by the interior surface 25. The woodmember received within the central bore 29 may be used as a dowel,tenon, or plug in ways apparent to those skilled in the art.

A problem with prior art cutter 10 is that a relatively large amount offrictional force is present between the cutter 10 and the wood. Duringoperation, the ridge 20 of the cutter 10 is in continuous contact withthe wood as the cutter 10 is being lowered into the wood. Also, inaddition to the ridge 20, both the interior surface 25 and exteriorsurfaces 11 of cutting tooth 15 are in continuous contact with the woodsince these surfaces 25 and 11 are respectively at the smallest andlargest radial distances from a center C of the cutter 10. The innersurface 25 of the cutter 10 and an outer surface 21 formed above thebeveled surface 19 are also formed at the smallest and largest radialdistances of the cutter 10, respectively, so that both of these surfaces25 and 21 are in continuous contact with the wood. Thus, in all, theridge 20 and each of the surfaces 11, 21, and 25 are always infrictional engagement with the wood.

The other surfaces of the body portion 14 also come in contact with thewood during operation of the cutter 10 but to a lesser degree than theridge 20 and surfaces 11, 21, and 25. These other surfaces of the cutter10 include a second exterior surface 22 and a second interior surface 26which are recessed relative to the outer surface 21 and the innersurface 25, respectively. Since the surfaces 22 and 26 are recessedrelative to surfaces 21 and 25, respectively, the surfaces 22 and 26 arespaced farther away from the wood than surfaces 21 and 25 and thus haveless contact with the wood. Even though these surfaces 22 and 26 arespaced apart from the wood, the surfaces 22 and 26 may nonetheless stillcontact the wood due to such factors as rotation of the cutter 10 at aslight angle offset from the vertical axis.

Each of the surfaces that are in frictional engagement with the woodgenerate heat when cutter 10 rotates. Thus, during the rotation of thecutter 10, heat will be generated at the ridge 20 and along surfaces 11,21, and 25. At times, sufficient heat will be generated to bum thesurface of the wood and harmfully heat the cutter 10. The generation ofharmful heat is especially problematic with hardwoods.

Friction between the wood and the ridge 20 and surfaces 11, 21 and 25also decreases the efficiency of the cutting operation. In order to cutthe wood, the drill press must provide a rotational force greater thanthe frictional forces before the cutter 10 will even begin to rotate.The rotational force exerted simply to overcome the frictional forcesincreases the amount of torque that the drill press must be capable ofproviding.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providinga cutter that has substantially reduced contact with the wood. Byreducing the amount of contact with the wood, and consequently theamount of friction, operation of the cutter is less likely to generateheat which may burn or otherwise damage the wood or cutter. The reducedcontact with the wood also permits a drill press to form a dowel, plug,or tenon more easily.

The cutter according to the invention reduces the amount of contact withthe wood in several ways. The cutter has a spur which depends from thebottom of the cutter and which is the first part of the cutter tocontact the wood. The spur forms a circular depression in the wood andthis depression defines the diameter of the plug, dowel, or tenon formedby the cutter. An adjacent cutting tooth follows the depression formedby the spur and subsequently cuts a trough in the wood. A bottom ridgeof the cutter, which is higher than the spur, does not contact thebottom of the trough, thereby reducing the amount of contact between thecutter and the wood. The exterior surface of the cutting tooth is formedat a distance farther away from the center of the cutter than any otherpart of the cutter and may be angled along its height to minimizecontact with the workpiece. An exterior surface of the cutter formeddirectly above the cutting tooth is recessed relative to the cuttingtooth and also may be angled to further reduce the amount of contactbetween the cutter and the wood. A second exterior surface formed abovethe tapered exterior surface is recessed relative to the tapered surfaceto reduce even further the amount of contact between the wood and thecutter. Each of these reductions in contact contributes to a substantialoverall reduction in contact and a substantial reduction in friction andconsequent reduction in heat generation.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a cutter thatcan be used to make a dowel, plug, or tenon, which has reduced contactwith the wood being machined.

It is a another object of the present invention to provide a cutter thathas reduced friction with the wood being machined.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a cutterthat can be used to more efficiently fabricate a dowel, plug, or tenonby reducing power consumption.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a cutterthat can be used to fabricate a dowel, plug, or tenon while generatingreduced levels of heat.

Other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent withreference to the remainder of this document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthe specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are front and partial top views of a conventionalcutter;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are front and partial top views of a cutter according toa first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a top sectional view of the cutter depictingradial dimensions for various surfaces on the cutter of FIGS. 2A and 2B;

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C are sectional side views along a cutting tooth,spur, and beveled areas of the cutter in FIGS. 2A and 2B;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cutter of FIGS. 2A and 2B inoperation depicting a direction of rotation and a piece of wood that hasbeen cut by the cutter;

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of a cutting tooth of a cutter accordingto a second embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of a cutter, according to a thirdembodiment of the invention, which has teeth formed along a beveledsurface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a cutter 40 according to a firstembodiment of the invention comprises a shank 42 and a body portion 44.The shank 42, in contrast to the shank 12 of the conventional cutter 10having a circular cross-section, has a hex-shaped cross-section. Thishex-shaped shank 42 permits three jaws of a chuck in a typical drillpress to engage the cutter 40 more firmly. The hex-shaped shank 42 aidesin improving the overall performance of the cutter 40 by preventing thecutter 40 from slipping or rotating within the chuck of the drill press.

The body portion 44 of the cutter 40 comprises a cutting tooth 45 havinga leading arris 46 for cutting into a surface of wood and for forming acircular trough as the cutter 40 is rotated by the drill press. Inaddition to the arris 46, the cutting tooth 45 is also defined by acutting tooth 47, an interior surface 55, and an exterior surface 41. Incontrast to a cutting tooth 17 of the prior art cutter 10, the cuttingtooth 47 of the cutter 40 is not formed along a radius of the cutter 40but rather is angled inwardly. By forming the cutting tooth 47 at aninward angle of θ, the arris 46 is formed at a sharper angle whereby"shavings" of wood are more easily removed from the workpiece.

The cutter 40 also has a spur 61 which is separated from the cuttingtooth 45 by a flute 48. The spur 61 is proud relative to the tooth 15and to a beveled surface 49 with the result that the spur 61 is thefirst part of the cutter 40 that comes in contact with the wood. Thespur 61 is also proud relative to the beveled surface 49 since its outerface 63 is formed at a larger radial distance from the center C of thecutter 40 than the beveled surface 49. A ridge 50, formed along thebottom of the cutter 40, is defined by the juncture of the beveledsurface 49 with the interior surface 55.

As best seen in FIGS. 4A to C, the cutting tooth 45 is the thickest partof the cutter 40 and extends from the interior surface 55 having aradial distance of R1 to the exterior surface 41 having a radialdistance of R5. The interior surface 55 is also formed at the radialdistance of R1, but a second interior surface 56, formed directly abovethe surface 55, is recessed relative to the surface 56 and is formed ata radial distance of R2. An exterior surface 52 of the cutter 40, formeddirectly above the surface 41 of the cutting tooth 45, is recessedrelative to the exterior surface 41 and is formed at a radial distanceof R4. A second exterior surface 53 formed at a radial distance of R3 isrecessed relative to both exterior surfaces 41 and 52.

During operation of the cutter 40, the interior surface 55 is the onlyinterior surface that is in primary contact with the wood. The otherinterior surface 56 is formed at a larger radial distance of R2 and haslittle or no contact with the wood. The exterior surface 41 of thecutting tooth 45 is in continuous contact with the wood, and thesurfaces 52 and 53, which are formed at the smaller radial distances ofR4 and R3, respectively, have less contact if any.

In comparison to the conventional cutter 10, the cutter 40 has adramatically smaller total amount of surface area in contact with thewood. Whereas the conventional cutter 10 has an exterior surface 21formed at the same radial distance as the cutting tooth 15, exteriorsurface 41 of the cutting tooth 45 is the only exterior surface formedat the largest radial distance of R5. Cutter 40 therefore has reducedthe amount of surface area in contact with the wood by at least thesurface area of the conventional cutter's surface 21. The cutting tooth45 of cutter 40 also has a substantially reduced height relative to thecutting tooth 15 of the conventional cutter 10. This reduced height alsoreduces the amount of surface area that comes in contact with the woodon both the interior surface 55 and exterior surface 41 of cutter 40.Furthermore, conventional cutter 10 only has one exterior surface 22recessed relative to surface 11 of the cutting tooth 15. Cutter 40, onthe other hand, has the surface 52 recessed relative to the exteriorsurface 41 of the cutting tooth 45 and, moreover, has surface 53recessed relative to both surfaces 41 and 52. By forming surface 53 atthe even smaller radial distance of R3, cutter 40 further decreases theextent of any contact between the wood and the cutter's exteriorsurface. The amount of contact between the wood and the cutter 40 iseven further reduced since the surface 52 is a portion of a cone ratherthan a cylinder, so that the upper portion of the surface 52 is formedat a smaller radial distance from the rotational axis C than the lowerportion of the surface 52.

The cutter 40 also has less surface area in contact with the wood sincethe ridge 50 is in less contact with the wood than the ridge 20 of theconventional cutter 10. With reference to FIGS. 4A and 4C, whichillustrate cross-sectional views of the cutter 40 along the cuttingtooth 45 and beveled surface 49, respectively, cutting tooth 45 andridge 50 terminate in the same plane normal to the rotational axis ofcutter 40. In contrast, spur 61, as shown in FIG. 4B, extends a smalldistance D1 below the cutting tooth 45 and ridge 50. As a result, incomparison to the beveled surface 19 and ridge 20 in the conventionalcutter 10, the beveled surface 49 and the ridge 50 have substantiallyless contact with the wood.

Operation of cutter 40 may be appreciated by reference to FIG. 5.Although a drill press or other such device is used for rotating thecutter 40, the drill press has been omitted from FIG. 5 in order tosimplify illustration of the invention. The cutter 40 is rotated in thedirection of arrow A and is lowered onto an upper surface 75 of a pieceof wood 70. As the cutter 40 is being lowered, the spur 61 is the firstpart of the cutter 40 that comes in contact with the wood 70, and itscores a circular depression in the wood 70. Next, after the cutter 40is lowered the distance D1, the interior surface 55 of the cutter 40travels within the depression, thereby stabilizing rotation of thecutter 40. The distance D1 is preferably very small, such as only 0.25millimeters, so that the cutting tooth 45 and surface 55 quickly enterthe preliminary rim or depression and quickly come in contact with thewood 70. If the distance D1 is too large, the cutter 40 could becomeunstable due to unbalanced contact between the wood and the spur 61.

Once the cutting tooth 45 comes in contact with the wood 70, a trough 73is cut in the wood 70 by the leading arris 46 of the cutter 40. Thecutting tooth 47 is formed at the angle θ and is also formed at anglealong the length of the cutter 40 so that removed particles of wood areguided upwards away from the bottom of the trough 73. The surface 41 ofthe cutting tooth 45, as discussed above, is the only part of the cutter40 formed at the largest radial distance R5 so that most, if not all, ofthe contact between the exterior of the cutter 40 and the wood 70 occursat surface 41. As the cutter 40 is lowered and the depth of the trough73 increases, the exterior surfaces 52 and 53 have less, if any, contactwith the wood 70 in comparison to surface 41. The interior surface 56 isalso in less, if any, contact with the wood 70 in comparison to theinterior surface 55.

Flute 48 in the cutter 40 is angled so that removed wood chips areguided away from the bottom of the trough 73. In contrast to flute 18 incutter 10, flute 48 in cutter 40 extends above the height of the cuttingtooth 45 within surface 52. Since the surface 52 is formed at the radialdistance R4, which is less than the radial distance of R5 for thesurface 41, wood removed by the spur 61 can easily travel up awaythrough the flute 48 and be contained between the space defined betweenthe surface 52 and the piece of wood 70. The flute 18 in theconventional cutter 10, in contrast, forces wood removed by the ridge 20between the surface having the largest radial distance, namely surface21, and the wood. By guiding the removed particles of wood into a spacebetween the cutter 40 and the wood 70, the cutter 40 experiences areduced amount of friction with the wood 70.

As the cutter 40 is lowered into the wood 70, the cutter 40 forms aprogressively deeper trough 73 in the wood 70. By cutting the trough 73,the cutter 40 defines an inner cylindrically-shaped wood member 71 thatcan be used as a dowel, plug, or tenon. The diameter of plug 71 isdictated by the radial distance R1 for the interior surface 55, which,among many other alternatives, may be, for instance 0.75 inches, forminga plug 71 1.5 inches in diameter. The maximum height of plug 71 isdictated by the length of the bore 59, which may be, for instance, 2.25inches in a 1.5 inch diameter cutter 40.

In a cutter 40 dimensioned to cut a plug, dowel, or tenon 1.5 inches indiameter, the radial distances R1 to R5 shown in FIG. 3 are preferablyR1=0.75 inches, R2=0.7875 inches, R3=0.8770 inches, R4=0.8840 inches,and R5=0.9025 inches. The surface 52 is angled to have an outer diameterof 1.768 inches near surface 53 and an outer diameter of 1.800 inchesnear beveled surface 49 and surface 41. A height D2 of the beveledsurface 49, as shown in FIG. 4C, is approximately equal to 0.25 inchesand the distance D1, defined as the difference in length between thespur 61 and the cutting tooth 45, is approximately equal to only 0.25millimeters. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, however,the dimensions of the cutter 40 are not limited to these exact valuesbut can be varied according to the type of wood being used and thelength and diameter of plug, dowel, or tenon desired.

As discussed above, the cutter 40 has a substantially reduced amount ofcontact with the wood relative to the conventional cutter 10. Insummary, this reduced amount of contact is due to numerous differencesin design between the cutter 40 and cutter 10. These differences includethe cutting tooth 45 having a smaller height and the surface 41 ofcutting tooth 45 which is the only part of the cutter 40 formed at thelargest radial distance R5. Other differences include angled surface 52,the provision of a second recessed surface 53, and the provision of spur61 which reduces the contact between the ridge 50 and the wood. Theflute 48 also assists in reducing the overall amount of contact orfriction with the wood by guiding removed chips of wood into a spacebetween the cutter 40 and the wood.

The reduction in contact between the cutter 40 and the wood reduces theamount of friction produced between the cutter 40 and the wood. Thesmaller amount of friction also reduces the required amount of torquethat must be generated by the drill press. The smaller amount of contactbetween the cutter 40 and the wood also reduces the amount of heatgenerated by the cutter 40 during its operation. As discussed above,heat that is generated during the operation of any cutter issignificant, since it may burn or otherwise damage the wood and candamage cutter 40. The problem of heat build-up is especially significantwith hardwoods which generally are denser woods and which provide agreater amount of resistance to the rotation of the cutter 40. Byreducing the amount of heat generated, the cutter 40 reduces the chancethat operation of the cutter 40 will burn or otherwise cause damage tothe wood.

A second embodiment of a cutter 80 is shown in FIG. 6 and differs fromcutter 40 in that exterior surface 86 of a cutting tooth 85 is angled.Whereas the entire exterior surface 41 of the cutting tooth 45 in cutter40 and exterior surface 11 of the cutting tooth 15 in cutter 10 are incontact with the wood, the cutting tooth 85 of cutter 80 is widest atits bottom and is consequently in intimate contact with the wood justnear its bottom. The amount of contact, and thus friction, can thereforebe even further reduced by forming the cutting tooth 85 with the angledexterior surface 86.

A third embodiment of a cutter 90 is shown in FIG. 7 and reduces contactwith the wood in a trailing portion 95 of the cutter 90 that follows thespur 61. In the conventional cutter 10, a trailing portion 13 of thecutter 10 is that part of the cutter 10 which trails the cutting tooth15 and includes the interior surface 25 and the beveled surface 19. Withcutter 90, the trailing member 95 is that part of the cutter 90 whichtrails the spur 61. Cutter 90 differs from cutter 10 in that trailingmember 95 of the cutter 90 includes a plurality of teeth 92 separated byflutes 93. The teeth 92 may continue around the entire length of thetrailing portion 95 or, as shown in FIG. 7, may be located onlyimmediately after spur 61.

The forgoing description of the preferred embodiments of the inventionhas been presented only for the purpose of illustration and descriptionand is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching.

For example, the cutting tooth 45 may be tapered along its width so asto reduce the amount of contact with the wood. As discussed above withreference to FIG. 6, the cutting tooth 85 may be angled along its heightwhereby the exterior surface 86 of the cutting tooth 85 is in contactwith the wood primarily only at the bottom of surface 86. Since only thecutting edge of the cutting tooth 45 or 85 needs to contact the wood,the exterior surfaces 41 and 86 of cutting tooth 45 and cutting tooth85, respectively, may be modified so that radial distance of the cuttingtooth 45 or 85 from the center C gradually decreases along the width ofthe cutting tooth 45 or 85 with the largest radial distance beinglocated near the cutting tooth 46 and the smallest radial distance nearthe flute 48.

The cutters 40, 80, and 90 are preferably comprised of high carbon steeland are used to make dowels, plugs, or tenons from a piece of wood. Thecutters 40, 80, and 90 provide an advantage in that dowels, plugs, ortenons may be fabricated without a lathe and may enter the wood eitherparallel to the grain of the wood or across the grain. The uses of thecutters 40, 80, and 90 are not limited to just dowels, plugs, or tenonsbut may be used in various other applications apparent to those skilledin the art. While the cutters 40, 80, and 90 have been described withreference to wood, it should be understood that the cutters 40, 80, and90 may be used with other materials, such as certain plastics.

The spur 61 need not be located between the cutting tooth and thebeveled surface but rather may be formed in other locations. Forinstance, the spur 61 may be positioned diametrically opposite thecutting tooth 45 or at some other location along the perimeter of thebeveled surface 45. Moreover, the cutter is not limited to just one spurbut may be formed with two or more spurs staggered along the perimeterof the body portion. The plural spurs may be advantageous over just asingle spur since any forces generated by one spur which might cause thecutter to operate in an unstable manner may be offset by the forcesassociated with the other spur or spurs. Similarly, multiple cuttingteeth could be used rather than the single cutting tooth shown in orderto better balance forces associated with the cutting teeth and increasecutting speeds.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain theprinciples of the invention and their practical application so as toenable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention only be limited by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cutter for forming a cylindrically-shapedmember from a workpiece, comprising:a shank; and a body portion attachedto one end of the shank and having a central bore for receiving thecylindrically-shaped member, the body portion including:a spur forforming a depression in the workpiece as the body portion rotates, thespur being positioned at a first radial distance from a center of thecutter and the depression defining a diameter of thecylindrically-shaped member; a cutting tooth for traveling within thedepression and having a leading arris for cutting a trough into theworkpiece as the body portion rotates, the cutting tooth beingpositioned at the first radial distance from the center of the cutterand having a thickness greater than that of the spur; and a firstinterior surface positioned at a bottom of the body portion fortraveling within the trough cut by the cutting tooth, the first interiorsurface being spaced at the first radial distance from the center of thecutter; wherein the spur is lower on the body portion than the firstinterior surface so that a ridge formed at a lower most surface of thefirst interior surface is not in contact with the workpiece as the bodyportion rotates.
 2. The cutter as set forth in claim 1, wherein theshank has a hex-shaped cross-section.
 3. The cutter as set forth inclaim 1, further comprising a second interior surface formed above thefirst interior surface and spaced farther away from the center of thecutter than the first interior surface.
 4. The cutter as set forth inclaim 1, further comprising a first exterior surface formed directlyabove the cutting tooth and the spur, the first exterior surface beinglocated closer to the center of the cutter than a second exteriorsurface of the cutting tooth.
 5. The cutter as set forth in claim 4,wherein the first exterior surface is angled so that a distance to thecenter of the cutter is less at a top of the first exterior surface thanat a bottom of the first exterior surface.
 6. The cutter as set forth inclaim 4, further comprising a third exterior surface formed directlyabove the first exterior surface, the third exterior surface beinglocated closer to the center of the cutter than the first exteriorsurface.
 7. The cutter as set forth in claim 1, wherein the body portionhas a flute which separates the cutting tooth from the spur and whichterminates above the cutting tooth.
 8. The cutter as set forth in claim1, further comprising a trailing member for traveling within the trough,the trailing member including the first interior surface and extendingfrom the first interior surface to a distance less than that of thespur.
 9. The cutter as set forth in claim 1, wherein the trailing memberhas a plurality of flutes formed along its perimeter.
 10. The cutter asset forth in claim 1, wherein an exterior surface of the cutting toothis tapered with a bottom of the cutting tooth being wider than a top ofthe cutting tooth.
 11. The cutter as set forth in claim 1, wherein theleading arris for cutting the trough in the workpiece is defined at theintersection of an exterior surface of the cutting tooth and a cuttingedge and wherein the cutting edge is formed at an angle to a lineextending from the center of the cutter to the leading arris.
 12. Acutter for defining a cylindrically-shaped member from a workpiece,comprising:a shank; and a body portion attached to one end of the shankand having a central bore for receiving the cylindrically-shaped member,the body portion including:a cutting tooth having a cutting tooth forcutting a trough into the workpiece as the body portion rotates, thecutting tooth being positioned at a first radial distance from a centerof the cutter and extending at most to a second radial distance; atrailing member positioned at a bottom of the body portion for travelingwithin the trough cut by the cutting tooth, the trailing member beingpositioned at the first radial distance from the center of the cutterand extending at most to a third radial distance which is less than thesecond radial distance; and a first exterior surface positioned directlyabove both the cutting tooth and the trailing member, the first exteriorsurface being formed at a fourth radial distance which is less than thesecond radial distance; wherein the first radial distance from thecenter of the cutter defines a diameter of the cylindrically-shapedmember and the trough in the workpiece extends from the first radialdistance to the second radial distance from the center of the cutter.13. The cutter as set forth in claim 12, wherein the shank has ahex-shaped cross section.
 14. The cutter as set forth in claim 12,further comprising a spur, spaced at the first radial distance from thecenter of the cutter, for cutting a depression into the workpiecewherein the cutting tooth and the trailing member travel within thedepression.
 15. The cutter as set forth in claim 14, wherein the spurextends farther away from the center of the cutter than the trailingmember but less than the second radial distance.
 16. The cutter as setforth in claim 12, wherein the trailing member includes a plurality offlutes formed along its perimeter.
 17. The cutter as set forth in claim12, wherein an exterior surface of the cutting tooth is tapered along aheight of the cutting tooth with a bottom of the cutting tooth extendingto the second radial distance.
 18. The cutter as set forth in claim 12,wherein the fourth radial distance is equal to the third radial distanceand the first exterior surface is tapered with a bottom of the firstexterior surface being formed at the fourth radial distance and a top ofthe first exterior surface being formed at a fifth radial distance whichis smaller than the fourth radial distance.
 19. The cutter as set forthin claim 12, further comprising a second exterior surface formeddirectly above the first exterior surface and formed at no more than afifth radial distance from the center of the cutter, wherein the fifthradial distance is less than a fourth radial distance.
 20. The cutter asset forth in claim 12, further comprising an interior surface positioneddirectly above the trailing member and being formed farther away fromthe center of the cutter than the trailing member.
 21. A cutter forforming a cylindrically-shaped member from a workpiece, comprising:ashank; and a body portion, the body portion including:means for cuttingan initial depression into the workpiece for defining a diameter of thecylindrically-shaped member; means for contacting thecylindrically-shaped member and for stabilizing rotation of the cutter;and means guided by the depression for cutting a trough into theworkpiece; wherein the depression cutting means is lower on the cutterthan either the trough cutting means or the contacting means and whereinthe trough cutting means comprises a cutting tooth having a leadingarris for cutting the trough in the workpiece.
 22. The cutter as setforth in claim 21, wherein the means for cutting the initial depressioncomprises a spur.
 23. A plug, dowel, and tenon cutter, comprising:agenerally tubular body; a shank, attached to the body, for use inrotating the body; wherein said generally tubular body includes:a spurfor forming a circular groove in a workpiece, a follower for travelingin the groove to stabilize rotation of the cutter, and a flute fortraveling within the groove and for cutting a trough in the workpiece todefine a cylindrically-shaped member of the workpiece; wherein thefollower includes an interior surface for traveling within the grooveand for contacting the cylindrically-shaped member and has a beveledexterior surface which is spaced from an outer edge of the trough in theworkpiece.
 24. A cutter for forming a cylindrically-shaped member from aworkpiece, comprising:a shank; and a body portion, the body portionincluding:means for cutting an initial depression into the workpiece fordefining a diameter of the cylindrically-shaped member; means forcontacting the cylindrically-shaped member and for stabilizing rotationof the cutter; and means guided by the depression for cutting a troughinto the workpiece; wherein the depression cutting means is lower on thecutter than either the trough cutting means or the contacting means;wherein the contacting means comprises a trailing member of the cutterwhich has a beveled exterior surface.
 25. A plug, dowel, and tenoncutter, comprising:a generally tubular body; a shank, attached to thebody, for use in rotating the body; wherein said generally tubular bodyincludes:a spur for forming a circular groove in a workpiece, a followerfor traveling in the groove to stabilize rotation of the cutter, and acutting tooth for traveling within the groove and for cutting a troughin the workpiece to define a cylindrically-shaped member of theworkpieces; wherein the spur is formed below the cutting tooth and belowthe follower.
 26. The cutter as set forth in claim 25, wherein anexterior surface of the cutting tooth is formed at a greater distancefrom a center of the cutter than exterior surfaces of the spur and thefollower.
 27. The cutter as set forth in claim 25, wherein the shank hasa hex-shaped cross-section.
 28. The cutter as set forth in claim 25,wherein the generally tubular body has a central bore for receiving thecylindrically-shaped member.
 29. The cutter as set forth in claim 25,wherein the cutting tooth has a leading arris for cutting the trough inthe workpiece with the leading arris being defined at an intersection ofan exterior surface of the cutting tooth and a cutting edge and whereinthe cutting edge of the cutting tooth is formed at an angle to a lineextending from a center of the cutter to the leading arris.
 30. Thecutter as set forth in claim 25, wherein a first exterior surface of thecutter formed directly above the spur and the follower is recessedrelative to an outer surface of the cutting tooth.
 31. The cutter as setforth in claim 30, wherein the first exterior surface is angled so thata distance to a center of the cutter is greater near a bottom of thefirst exterior surface than at a top of the exterior surface.
 32. Thecutter as set forth in claim 30, further comprising a second exteriorsurface formed above and recessed relative to the first exteriorsurface.
 33. The cutter as set forth in claim 25, wherein the followerincludes a plurality of flutes defining spaced teeth.